شبيبة الجامعة اللبنانية الثقافية في العالم في كندا تحتفل بعيد استقلال لبنان في تورونتو في "أسبوع الاستقلال":الرئيس العالمي الياس كساب: أدعو الشبيبة اللبنانية في العالم كي "تجتاح" لبنان نظافةً، وفكراً، ومحبّةً،وتمرّساً بالديمقراطيةمئة شابة وشاب قدموا من مدن مختلفة من كندا احتفلوا سويّةً.شكراً لريتا حكيِّم وأعضاء فريقها في كندا على التنظيم الرائع، شكراً لدعم فرع تورونتوThe WLCU Canada Youth celebrates Lebanon's Independence Day and its vibrant Canadian Lebanese community!The month of November has been a flurry of exciting activities in Canada. On November 17, the WLCU Canada Youth hosted its first Lebanese Independence Day Soirée at the beautiful Mazza Garden restaurant, with the support of the WLCU Toronto Chapter, for a fun night of dining and dancing (and yes, we dabke'ed all night long)! We were over 100 guests united by our love for Lebanon and motivated to grow our Canadian Lebanese young vibrant community. The president of the Canada Youth Council, Rita Houkayem, along with the rest of the council, delivered a few presentations which focused on strengthening the bonds between the Lebanese Diaspora and its motherland. It started with the council members sharing their experiences as participants of Lebolution 2017, a 10-day cultural and humanitarian trip to Lebanon organized by the WLCU World Youth Council and supported by the Lebanese Ministry of Tourism. They expressed how this trip had a major impact on their lives where they have gained 200 new friends from 17 different countries and are now part of a dynamic international Lebanese community! For more information on the next trip, please visit https://www.facebook.com/wlculebolution/.The DiasporaID platform, launched by Netways' CEO Roula Moussa and supported by the Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants, was also presented to the guests. This worldwide network of Lebanese Communities, Businesses, and Achievers collaborating for investment and development seeks to connect the Lebanese Diaspora and the Lebanese residents of Lebanon back to their roots with a strong focus on empowering their social and economic spheres. For more information on DiasporaID, you can watch this clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Pcia9mZ6dE&feature=youtu.be. To become part of the largest Lebanese online community in the world, register today at https://www.diasporaid.com/. Lastly, all of the guests were asked to exercise their right to vote in Lebanon's 2018 Parliamentary Elections as our large diaspora community has the power to bring positivechange onto Lebanon and make our voices count! The presentations ended with our dear WLCU World President, Elias Kassab, who strongly expressed the power of youth engagement for change and the power of our love to Lebanon. He invited us to 'take over' Lebanon with our vision, our experience in democratic principles, our love for each other and for our Lebanon. Lebanon is counting on us and Mr. Kassab, we accept this responsibility to positively revolutionize our community and our beloved country!Finally, to add to the excitement of the past weekend, we met up for heart warming community brunch on the morning of the 19th and then headed to Nathan Phillip's square, where we collaborated with the change-maker organization, Heroes in Black, to give back to our city by feeding and clothing the homeless. It was a truly inspiring experience, and one that we will be expanding upon. We will be collaborating with Heroes in Black for upcoming exciting projects so stay tuned to find out more about all the interesting new opportunities the WLCU Canada Youth will be presenting, as well as the community events we have planned for 2018. ​